blog 6 reader response

Upon finishing the book, The Antagonist by Lynn Coady and viewing the book from multiple literary criticisms I have found that the particular point of view that revealed the most about the novel for me is the reader response criticism.  It allowed me to compare my personal life experiences with those that the characters in the book were going through.  I think that it is very important that a reader is able to find things in common with the characters in the book because it allows them to better understand and interpret the situations in the story.

The reader response criticism focuses on having prior knowledge of the culture that exists within the novel, so that the reader can better identify with the characters and is able to empathize with what they are experiencing.  The fact that Gordon was portrayed as someone who grew up in a small town in Canada similar to myself allowed me to relate to most of the stories he that he shared in his emails to Adam. Small towns are unique in that citizens share different experiences then in large cities as everyone tends to know their neighbours and people in their community because they interact on a regular basis through school, work and recreation. After Sylvie dies in the car accident and Gordon wakes up in the hospital to his court appointed councillor from the youth centre that he had been sentenced to, Gordon states “and because my town is small, he was familiar to me, so I politely said hello.” (320)

While reading Gordon’s account of his life I recognized that if I have not experienced what he was describing then the chances are that I know someone who has and witnessed what they went through.  This criticism is also very helpful way to understand the book because the characters are described as using relevant forms of technology such as Facebook and email. Facebook was launched in 2004 when I was eight and I have grown up with it and much like Gordon I use it to find and catch up with people I have not seen in a while, “Then I went a bit nuts thinking to myself if Kirsten is on Facebook, everyone must be on there.”(233) In contrast, Gordon did not grow up using Facebook and he is only discovering what the program can do in the novel. Once he realizes that he can contact people from his past, Gordon begins searching for people that he thought he had lost forever. He uses it to reconnect with his old girlfriend Kirsten and what he calls, “cyber-stalking” (278) of other lost acquaintances. The use of social media and email are important aspects of the book since the book is written is through a series of emails between his former friend Adam and himself and Facebook messages between his old girlfriend Kirsten and himself.

If I had not analyzed the book with this criticism I think that some of the parts in the book would have been harder to understand. In a novel like this, where the narrator writes about his own life experiences and explains what his feelings are at the time, it is very important that the reader is able to compare events and experiences from their own lives to better grasp what is going through the characters head and better understand the events that take place.

Archetypal Literary Criticism

                While reading, The Antagonist by Lynn Coady, patterns based on archetypal characters similar to those of other stories can be found. The main character, Gordon symbolizes not only a brute but also a hero as he was used as “the clean-up squad” (96) and had to deal with the trouble makers that frequented his father’s ice cream shop.

                Gordon again shows himself to be a hero when he displays an act of justice and stands up for the highland dancer Kyle was dating and who he thought that Kyle had hit. Gordon confronts his friend about the incident and explains that he feels that Kyle mistreats women based on the incident he thought he overheard. Initially, Gordon was ready to hit his friend in the girl’s defence but he held back from throwing the punch based on his experience when his father put him in the role of an enforcer and he seriously hurt Croft. Gordon demonstrates that he had learned from his past and shows restraint before he acts. He also did this when his university hockey coach said, “either fight tonight or leave”(169) he choose to walk out midway through the play-off game, knowing that it would cost him his scholarship, proving to the reader that he was not only thinking of others but of any consequences his actions cost him. This view of the main character being a hero reveals about the text a more in-depth view of Gordon’s personality and what he feels is right. Once the reader understands that Gordon is acting in the way that he feels is righteous the decisions he makes begin to seem more planned out rather than rash outbursts.

                Adam can be viewed as the protagonist in the book because his novel is the “driving force behind the plot”.(dictonary.com) Adam’s character is seen as the villain in the story because he has betrayed his friend by writing a book based on Gordon’s deepest secrets and provoked the hero Gordon by creating a book about him. Adam being the bad guy gives the hero, Gordon a purpose as he is trying to reveal the truth behind Adam’s lies. Gordon is viewed as the antagonist who is the “opposing force in a fictional story” (dictonary.com). Through his emails and recollections he reveals his side and offers an opposing view in response to what Adam had written.  The book’s title lets the reader know what to expect from the main character and that this will be a novel about conflicting views.

Other archetypal characters in the novel are Gordon's mother and father. His mother Sylvie is seen as a wonderful and loving caregiver who takes care of Gordon. She is represented as someone that is pure while his father is described as controlling and verbally abusive. Gordon refers to his mother as the “the goddess”(14).  She symbolizes both The Innocent and The Caregiver and acts as the great mother. Whereas, Gordon’s father would be viewed as The Ruler whose desire is to exercise control and power. His relationships with both of his parents reveal about Gordon where his sense of right and wrong is derived from and how this helps him make decisions throughout his life.   

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 07 May 2015.